


One in a Million

by darthearts



Series: Light [7]
Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 14:25:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12843087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthearts/pseuds/darthearts
Summary: These are the thoughts that run through Mina's head when they're performing One in a Million at their first concert.





	One in a Million

**Author's Note:**

> I forgot to update AO3 so here it is. This was really word vomit because I just wanted to post something for Mina's birthday earlier this year.

They are performing One in a Million when Mina suddenly feels choked up with emotions, eyes stinging with tears threatening to fall. She isn’t sure if it’s the song or the fact that she’s finally performing at their very own concert, but something makes her chest tighten and she has to look up at the ceiling of the concert hall to keep the tears in. She raises a hand to her face, pretending to wipe away sweat when she is really wiping away the tears that managed to escape. Tightening her hold on the microphone, she takes a deep breath before bursting into a grin for the fans.

Onces are waving their candybongs as they sing along and Mina’s vision is flooded with the warm colours of apricot and neon magenta. The coloured lights illuminate the concert hall and Mina is certain that her vision will be obscured with dark spots later due to the bright lights. But she thinks that being blinded by these lights are okay—she wants to fall into it. Every single lightstick shines brightly and Mina suddenly feels the gratitude rush through her because simply having a single person showering her with unconditional love is overwhelming, let alone thousands. 

Nayeon is singing the chorus now and she has her hands up in the air, waving as much as she can. Her bunny teeth are revealed and she cannot hide the happiness—it shows in her voice. The sight of Nayeon like this—cheerful and bright—makes Mina smile even wider because even though Nayeon is smiling twenty-four seven, she also secretly cries herself to sleep when she reads hate comments. Mina knows all this because on some nights, Mina falls asleep to the sounds of Nayeon sniffing underneath her blanket. She doesn’t comfort Nayeon because it feels wrong to bring it up when Nayeon smiles at her the next day, with the sun in her eyes.

The oldest unnie has never looked happier, living in the moment and wishing for it to last. Nayeon might seem childish and loud, but it is her way of lifting the mood and Mina understands this. Nayeon over thinks more often than not and watching her like this, all open and bad thoughts shed away, Mina thinks that this is way overdue for Nayeon. 

Jeongyeon passes by Mina, making her way over to Nayeon with a fan banner in her hand. She slings an arm over Nayeon and says something to her, Mina can’t tell what because of the distance. But it might have been something funny, because Nayeon laughs, nudging Jeongyeon a little before holding her hand. The two of them have been friends for a very long time and they have petty fights now and then, but they make up quickly because Jeongyeon talks it out and diffuses the tension.

This is why Mina admires Jeongyeon and praises her often in interviews. Jeongyeon understands people well and she treats everyone differently, tweaking her attitude to tailor to everyone’s needs. With Nayeon, Jeongyeon is loud and protective because she knows that Nayeon looks like a tough cookie but is actually a fluffy marshmallow. With Mina, Jeongyeon is quieter, softer, but she allows Mina to lean on her shoulder, allows Mina to cling on to her. Jeongyeon takes care of people in a way that people need. So when she sees Nayeon raising a hand to comb through Jeongyeon’s bangs with her fingers, she feels reassured and relieved that Jeongyeon is being taken care of too. 

Mina almost misses her turn to sing due to all the thoughts running in her head, but she manages to sing her lines well. She makes eye contact with Momo just as she finishes her line, the latter raising her eyebrows in question, but smiling all the same. Mina shakes her head to assure Momo and the blonde girl laughs slightly, shoulders shaking a little before she turns back to the fans. The fellow Japanese has a special place in Mina’s heart because the girl seems to understand her best, being both Japanese and specializing in dance. Momo knows how bitter failure tastes like, which is why she was the first to put her arms around Mina when Mina messed up at ISAC in 2016. Momo never cried when she didn’t manage to clinch a victory at Hit The Stage but Mina remembers the girl who clung to her sleeve during ISAC, with swollen and red eyes, tears stains streaked across her cheeks.

Momo really dotes on her a lot, leaving water bottles by her bag when dance practice ends and dragging her out for jokbal when Mina feels low. Momo is so much more than how the public views her—she is not slow; she is sensitive and very thoughtful, so thoughtful that she forgets her surroundings. Anger rises in her at the thought of the false accusations and insults that have been hurled at Momo but then it all dies out when Momo makes eye contact with her again, the girl holding a bottle and gesturing to Mina to ask if she needs water. Mina just shakes her head, silently wishing that Momo would prioritise her own needs before others. She wants to protect Momo’s smile, maybe make it last a lifetime because the girl deserves it.

Her thoughts are interrupted by Sana, who bounces towards her, nearly tripping over herself in the process. Mina rushes towards her, hand outstretched to grab her elbow, steadying the girl. Sana yelps but manages to balance herself with Mina’s help. Giggling, she pulls Mina closer, pecking her cheek lightly.

“Thanks, Mina,” the girl says.

This is Sana—clumsy and cheeky. Very playful. When they are in the dorm and Mina’s in her room, the most distinct voice that she makes out is Sana’s. Sana’s voice is high-pitched and loud, Mina can probably detect it from a mile away. Even though Sana’s voice hurts her ears sometimes, she thinks that it is also a comforting constant which stays and settles right next to her heart.

Mina frowns slightly in disapproval, “You need to be careful.”

At this, Sana laughs, attracting the attention of a few members and some fans. She pulls Mina into a hug, squeezing the latter a bit too tightly but Mina doesn’t mind anyway because it’s Sana. When the girl pulls away, she laughs again.

“I don’t have to be when I’m with you,” she says, tilting her head and smiling fondly at Mina.

Her sentence has Mina desperately grasping at words to say because somehow, Mina feels the need to tell Sana how much she appreciates her and how much she wishes they could stay like this forever. Mina doesn’t find the words, but Sana knows, so the latter just winks at her—her way of reassurance. Blatant and cheesy, but sincere all at once.

“Sana, do you have to flirt with every girl you see?” Jihyo approaches them, raising both her eyebrows at Sana. “Every once out there knows that you flirt all the time now that your ISAC adventures have been broadcasted to the world.”

“They were great adventures,” Sana comments nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.

“I need to protect Mina from this snake,” Jihyo says, placing her hands on Mina’s shoulders and pulling her away from Sana. 

Jihyo is joking but Mina cannot help but read between the lines. Mina cannot count the number of times she has caught Jihyo glaring and giving the evil eye to random boy group members at music shows. Whenever Mina asks why, the girl simply dismisses it as Mina mistaking things but Mina knows better.

She will never tell Jihyo about that time when she overheard a confrontation between a boy group member and a furious Jihyo. The girl, usually of even temperament, was livid when she spoke to him about the inappropriate lewd remarks he was making about some Twice members. While there was no yelling, Mina had never heard Jihyo like this—voice low and venomous, filled with pent-up, well-controlled anger. 

As she watches Twice’s leader narrowing her eyes at Sana, she suddenly realizes how much this must mean to Jihyo. This girl who trained for ten years to be here, who fought through countless hate comments about her size, who now shoulders the burden of being Twice’s leader, still stands on stage proudly. 

When Jihyo lets go of Mina to bring the microphone to her lips, she fills the concert hall with her powerful voice—that strong voice which never falters or cracks. Mina relishes in the warm timbre of her voice, closing her eyes and swaying lightly to the music. Jihyo might not have the widest of ranges, or the most powerful of voices, but she has a voice that feels like a consoling hug after a long day. Jihyo’s line ends and her voice dissipates, and it makes Mina feel a bit sad that she can’t hear Jihyo more. (But it’s okay, because Mina knows Jihyo’s voice by heart.)

The crowd suddenly erupts in laughter and she notices that the cameras are zoomed in on Dahyun, who is shuffling on the spot while singing. It makes Mina stumble with laughter because yes, shuffling is a very appropriate dance move for One in a Million. Dahyun never fails to make people laugh with her random ridiculous antics. While it does cheer people up, it also causes Dahyun to be taken for granted—that she is always happy and optimistic and doesn’t require cheering up because she’s the one doing the cheering most of the time.

Twice once voted Dahyun as being the most different on and off stage and Mina thinks that it is very true. Dahyun tends to be quieter in real life, often locking herself up in her room to study when she’s at the dorm. Since she handles herself so well, the older members in the group don’t baby her and lets her be her own independent self. That isn’t to say that they love her any less—simply a different way to love. But Mina realized, not so long ago, that Dahyun also craves affection from the rest.

It wasn’t hard to tell, especially by the way Dahyun snuggled up to her when Mina brought her tea during one of her late night studying sessions. It was in the way she whined and clung to Mina, telling her to stay longer so that she can rant about math, all while wearing a sleepy grin, eyes turned into crescent moons. From then on, Mina makes sure to always bring Dahyun tea, staying in her room a little longer just to listen to Dahyun complain about how difficult calculus is. (She also tries to be a reliable unnie to the girl by teaching her tips and tricks to score well for tests.)

Someone suddenly links an arm around hers and it surprises her, shaking her out of her reverie. When she turns, a wave of affection washes over her because Chaeyoung is resting her chin on her shoulder, looking up at her with curious eyes.

“What are you thinking about?” the younger girl asks, hand sliding down her forearm to intertwine their fingers together.

Chaeyoung is the shortest out of all the members and that also makes her the cutest. (Call Mina biased, but that isn’t going to stop her from thinking so.) That is why Mina always wants to yield in to whatever her demands are. It’s probably not a good thing to want to spoil the short-haired girl, but Mina cannot help it—even fans call her whipped. 

However, Chaeyoung never takes advantage of her kindness. Even the simplest things—like when Mina offers to take over dish duty, Chaeyoung prefers sharing the responsibility and doing it together. With Chaeyoung like this, all sweet and sensitive, it’s hard not to love her even more.

“You,” Mina answers honestly, not expecting a barrage of slaps to rain down on her arm.

“Ah! _Unnie_! Are you becoming like Sana unnie?” Chaeyoung shrieks.

Mina pouts in response, “I was being honest.”

Chaeyoung narrows her eyes cutely and the gesture is so adorable, even Mina cannot resist pinching her cheeks lightly before holding her hand. Mina feels a weight on her shoulder, only to realize that Chaeyoung is resting her chin on her shoulder. Warmth blossoms in her chest and she ruffles the girl’s hair lightly.

“ _Unnie_ , you’re babying me like Nayeon unnie too,” she pouts and Mina wants to ask how not to baby her when she acts like this.

“If you bully Nayeon unnie, she’ll baby you less because she’ll be the baby instead,” Tzuyu says, approaching the two.

Chaeyoung laughs, bringing her hand up to fist-bump with Tzuyu. The former skips off to find Nayeon, possibly to tell on Tzuyu regarding what she just said, leaving Mina alone with the youngest of the group. 

The playful atmosphere tones down to a peaceful one. Both Mina and Tzuyu aren’t talkative people. Mina is shy and prefers listening instead of voicing her opinions, often going with the flow of things. Tzuyu does talk more relative to Mina, but when it comes to matters of the heart, the girl keeps her walls up, keeps her tears at the back of her eyes.

The only time Tzuyu has ever cried on television was when she tasted a dish that reminded her of her mother’s cooking. When she came back to the dorm, no one knew anything about it because she didn’t let Jeongyeon tell anyone. She hid in her room while the broadcast was on and even when the members approached her then, she kept a smile on. It made Mina wonder how she did it, how she never lets her guard down when she’s surrounded by people.

As she saw Tzuyu on the dorm tv screen, red-eyed, attempting a smile that looked more like a grimace, she felt her chest tighten abnormally. She watched as members flitted in and out of Tzuyu’s room while she stood there, arms hanging limply by her side. That night, she couldn’t sleep and Tzuyu seemed like she couldn’t too because the younger girl joined her in the kitchen, looking tired and frazzled. They shared a bottle of orange juice in comfortable silence and at the end, Tzuyu gave her a hug.

She guesses that it’s Tzuyu’s way of thanking her for caring. Tzuyu is too understanding, too kind to share her own burdens. Her heart suddenly clenches, thinking of a young girl who has yet to fully experience her youth, and yet flew all the way to a foreign country to chase her dreams. She automatically brings an arm around the girl’s thin waist protectively. 

“Are your parents here?” Mina asks, breaking the silence between them.

Tzuyu shakes her head, then gives a thin smile, “No, but they’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Mine too,” Mina mentions, patting the girl’s hip to comfort her. “I’m sure they’re very proud of you .”

As Tzuyu nods, the outro of One in a Million starts. Mina sees an ocean of magenta and apricot and she can hardly believe all of the people in the venue came to see them. Sometimes, it’s hard for her to understand how people place her on a pedestal and think of her as all sorts of things when she really is just this girl from Japan with dreams bigger than herself. Even as the crowd chants ‘you gotta know that you’re one in a million’, Mina thinks she really isn’t all that special. 

But when she laces hands with the members and they stand in one straight line, with smiles that mean love, she thinks that maybe, just _maybe_ she can be special to Twice and all the fans.

Just as the last notes of the song fade away, they bow on stage and Mina finally lets the tears she has been holding back escape. Her chest constricts and her heart races at the cheers and applause resonating throughout the stadium. 

(She makes a silent promise that she’ll always be one in a million for these people.)

 


End file.
